Pencil



, Oct. 9, 1934.

PENCIL Filed April 13, 1933 WWW ' )XMWY M ra c. c. HARRIS 1,975,788

Patented a. 9,1934

' UNITED STA PENCIL Carl C. Harris, 0range,.Mass. Application April 13, 1933, Serial No. 665,913

Claims.

This invention relates to a thin pencil or simi-'- lar article as distinguished from the ordinary flat pencil having a fiat wooden casing forthe lead.

The principal objects of this invention are to 5 provide a'pencil whichis much thinner than the said wood'pencils, which can be carried in a book, such as a diary or the like, and can be used for attachment to a score card or pocketbook; to ,provide such a pencil to be used as a pocket pencil with a clip, of course,for holding it at the top of a pocket and having a certain flexibility, not enough to fracture the leads but sufllcient to yield on impact against some object; to provide 1 such a pencil with means for retaining extra leads without materially increasing the size of the pencil; to provide a casing for holding a lead, or other implement or tool, of any sheet material but preferably to cause it to be transparent so that the lead or tool can be seen; to provide thickness of the casing, and to provide thecasing with a spring point sprung so that it will grip Fig. 3' is a view of. the side opposite that seen in Fig. 1; Y

'Fig. 4 is a view of the blank of sheet celluloid or metal from which the casing is made;

Fig. 5 is a view of this sheet doubled on itself to practically form the complete casing of thepencil; i a

Fig. 6 is a view of the pencil point shown in Fig.

2'as it appears when the lead is not held by the resilient tips of that point;

Fig. 7 is a sectional view through the completed pencil showing the lead in 'position and the spare leads in the magazine therefor;

Fig. 8 is a plan of the cap with the erasure held therein; a

Fig. 9 is a view similar to Fig. 1 sho g a simpler form in which the invention can be carried out; a l I Fig. 10 is an edge view of the same, and

Fig. 11 is a section on the line 11.-11 of Fig. 9.

. Z I am aware of the fact that pencils have been made with a wooden casing of a flat shape so as tooccupy less space than usual in one direction means for feedingthe lead or tool, which also 1 will not result in any material increase in the REitSuEcf and to enable them to be placed in some positions in which the usual round or hexagonal pencils would produce a projection, as for example, pocket use. My idea, however, is to provide areal thin pencil having an attached clip for diary, score card and pocketbook use, the pencil being so thin that it can be closed up in an ordinary book without damaging the book or bending the back of the same.

For this, purpose a thin sheet 10 of metal, or preferably transparent celluloid, is stamped out as shown in Fig. 4 with two rectangular openings 11 and two spaced points 12 anddoubled'on itself along the center in such a way as to provide a central longitudinal space 13 forthe active lead 7 and two side magazines 14 for spare leads. The opposite edges of the sheet are brought together and either left unattached or attached to each other in such a way that the two-edges of the pencil will appear alike or finished. The pencil is made long enough for ordinary pocket use and the magazine 14 ordinarily in a pencil of medium length will have 'a capacity for a total of four extra lengths of lead.

- In the center is arranged a left handed screw 15 with a flat end projecting into the converging sides of the passage 13 so that the screw cannot turn but can slide along the pencil. A nut 16 ntting the threads is placed in the opening formed by the two registering openings 11. Of course, the nut is placed in this space and started onto the screw in the course of manufacture and the lead'is inserted below the end of the screw so that by turning the nut the lead will be forced out ,as shown in Figs. 1 and 2. This casing 10 being formed of sheet material can be provided with a spring at the points 12 so that when the lead is turned out to active position as shown in Fig. 2, these points will be forced apart and their resiliency will be exerted on the lead to hold it firmly. Either a cylindrical or non-cylindrical lead can be employed because it has to be of no definite thlcknessor shape in order to cooperate with these two tips12. when there is no iced in the pencil these tips spring together as shown inFig.6.,

4 In this form of the invention', two metal clips 1'7 can be employed in the panels between the convex projections along the passage 13 and the magazines 14 constituting a very effective and convenient means for holding the pencil in a book or in a pocket.

An eraser is furnished by providing a cap 18. shaped inside like the exterior of the cross section'of the pencil casing so as to fit thereover,

made preferably of thesame material and bent up by doubling from a straight sheet. This capbut if it is desired to make the pencil simpler and less expensive one magazine can be eliminated or in fact the whole magazine idea. The pencil then can be made much more cheaply in the form shown in Figs. 9, 10 and 11. In this case there is no difference in the means for carry-, ing and feeding the lead but the casing 22 is simply formed by doubling and leaving one passage 23 through it for the lead and the screw 24 which has a nut 26, as in the other case. Here the two edges are flat and in contact with each other throughout. A clip 27 is: provided for the same purpose as the double clip in the other case or two clips can be used, if desired.

It will be seen that in this way a pencil is provided which is extremely thin and it really occupies a place not filled by the wooden casing pencils of flat shape. It can be placed, as stated, in a book. without distorting the book and carried in the pocket conveniently without introducing even as much bulk as the usual wooden fiatpencils. The lead is held effectively at the pointand will not slip out and is not even likely to turn on its axis, when a cylindrical lead-is used, by reason of this resilient gripping feature. The casing can be made flexible to as large an extent as may be desired by the quality and thickness of the sheet material used for it. Furthermore, when made of celluloid the point of lead'is obvious, which is another advantage, although it can be made of other material without that advantage.

This invention can be usedas a casing for a pencil lead or other small pocket implement. Instead of a lead the casing can carry adjustably a needle for picking slivers, a pair of tweezers, a file, a blackhead remover, or knife blade.

Although I have illustrated and described only' two forms of the invention I am aware of the fact that other modifications can be made therein by any person skilled in the art without departing from the scope of the invention as expressed in the claims. Therefore, I do not wish to be limited in this respect otherwise than as set forth in the claims, but What I do claim is:-

1. As an article of manufacture, a casing formed of sheet material in 'a flat shape and having means therein for feeding a tool or the like, said sheet material being doubled on itself -to form a single central space for the tool and feeding means andthin flat portions extending materially beyond said central space in two opposite directions.

'2. As an article of manufacture, a pencil having a casing formed of two layers of thin sheet material separated from each other over a narrow area to provide a space for the lead and a par evavss allel space constituting a magazine for extraleads.

3. As an article of manufacture, a pencil having yielding spring points adapted to come substantially into contact when no lead is in position to yieldingly grip the lead when it is in a position to project through the end 'of the pencil.

4. As an article of manufacture, a pencil comprising a casing consisting of two layers of sheet material in contact with each other convexed longitudinally along the center toprovide a space inside for the lead and convexed longitudinally along both edges to provide magazines for leads.

5. Asan article of manufacture, a lead pencil comprising a flat casing having a'central space and a movable lead in said space extending to one end of the casing, said casing slanting back from said end to permit of the turning of the casing practically to an unlimited extent in all directions about the end of the lead projecting from the casing, said casing having a side space therein for a' spare lead terminating at the end of the slanting surface.

6. As an article of manufacture, a casing formed of thin material in a fiat shape and having means therein for feeding a lead or the like,

said casing having a longitudinally extending space for the lead and feeding means, and thin fiat portions extending materially beyond said space in the same plane.

7. As an article of manufacture, a substan-'- tially fiat casing provided with a long narrow corrugation on'each flat side positioned to oppose each other and thereby form a chamber within the casing for a lead, said corrugations each having an opening into said chamber, a nut in said iio openings accessiblefrom the outside, and a propolling screw in said chamber extending through .the nut to engage the lead.

8. As an article of manufacture, a pencil comprising a substantially fiat casing expanded throughout its length, but throughout only a small proportion of its width to receive a lead, a screw in the casing, where it is spread, in position to propel a lead, a nut on the screw for moving it longitudinally, said casing having an opening through which the nut projects, so that it can be turned from the outside to propel the lead.

9. As an article of manufacture, a pencil having a flat shaped body formed of thin material and having means thereon for feeding a lead or the like, said body comprising'a longitudinally extending means for receiving the lead and feed-' ing means, and a t-hin flat portion extending transversely from said receiving means.

10. As an article of manufacture, a pencil having a fiat shaped body formed of thin material and having means thereon for feeding a lead or 

